There are wine and food festivals, and then there’s the Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival. Dubbed “the best wine festival in the country” by The Wine Observer and Boston Foodie’s “favorite food and wine celebration of the year,” this annual event is a must do for wine lovers and lovers of a good time alike.

Some Seriously Chic Sipping

With sponsors like Wine & Food magazine, Alex and Ani, Monogram, and Maserati, it’s not hard to believe that the Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival is the epitome of good taste. At the heart of the event? Two days of grand tastings at Marble House featuring hundreds of exquisite wines from around the world; extraordinary food from local, regional and national chefs (including The Spiced Pear’s very own Chef Thomas Duffy); celebrity chef experiences; and cooking demonstrations.

Throw in wine seminars with leading food and wine experts; gala dinners in spectacular seaside settings, like the Wine & Rosecliff Gala, The Burgundy Grand Cru Dinner at The Elms, and the around-the-world Vintner Dinner at Rosecliff; and Sunday Jazz Brunch, and you’ll find no end of elegant things to do at the Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival. Free parking and shuttle transportation sweeten this decadent deal.

From Day Into Night

Wine & Food Festival revelers looking to keep the party going, meanwhile, will find Newport After Dark delivers -- and then some. Mixing, mingling and more await at Forty 1º North, where party-goers will enjoy special wines, specialty cocktails and gourmet late-night bites. And did we happen to mention dancing under the stars with the city’s glistening waterfront as the backdrop?

And, sure, you could stay home and sip for no reason (no judgment here), but when you attend the Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival, you’re sipping for a cause: All proceeds support the historic preservation mission of The Preservation Society of Newport County.

Ready to embrace your inner oenophile? You’ll need a sensational stay to keep up with all that sensational sipping. Book your stay at The Chanler today.